The Brief:
To design and install a data and voice network infrastructure for new offices within Dalby Forest and to ascertain the feasibility of installing internet access for the local rural community.

The Method:
c>ways highlighted the similarities between the innovative design of the networking solution for  the new  offices  and  the implementation of  a  telecommunications network for the area and merged the two projects together.

The Solution:
The new offices were equipped with a sophisticated data and voice network and the rural community now not only have internet access but a highly functional  broadband network.

 skills, knowledge and determination’… the c>ways’ way

Dalby Forest is a thriving managed woodland with a wide range of wildlife. The Forestry Commission wanted to update the visitor centre and redevelop the buildings within the Courtyard area. They  felt that modern communications access was a vital aspect of the courtyards redevelopment. 

Innovative Approach to Broadband Access

Dalby forest is located within the North York Moors National Park.  The surrounding area is rural and a community of small businesses is thriving there. Internet access to the area had previously been unavailable, as the location of the site is situated well within the forest itself.

 c>ways were initially commissioned to design and install a data and voice network infrastructure, using structured cabling.  By using the latest technologies our team of specialists were able to provide a network to the area which will be simple to upgrade in the future minimising disruption to the environment.

During the installation of the data and voice network, c>ways were approached by Ryedale District Council to ascertain the feasibility of installing internet access for the local rural community. 

c>ways highlighted the similarities between the design of the innovative networking solution for the courtyard redevelopment and the implementation in the area of a telecommunications network, and merged the two projects together. c>ways was not only able to determine the possibility of internet access, but designed and aided in the implementation of a highly functional broadband network to the area.

“The c>ways team were a great benefit to this project, their skills, knowledge and determination were invaluable at both the  design and implementation stages,” said Paul Cody, District Forester (Environment and Planning) for the Forestry Commission

A Partner Who Really Listens

In this project, c>ways worked in partnership with both Ryedale District Council and a world renowned telecommunications leader.

“c>ways listened to our goals for the Dalby Forest courtyard redevelopment and exceeded our expectations.  We wanted to bring Information Technology to the rural community, but were unsure if it was possible,” said Ryedale District Council.  “c>ways played a crucial role in us getting broadband access to the Dalby Forest site, it was through their original analysis that this project has been deemed a success.”

c>ways were able to implement two innovative networking solutions. Both projects were completed successfully, with exceptional results that surpassed original expectations.

Delighted Users 

“I would highly recommend the c>ways team to anyone that requires IT specialists,” said Mr Cody. “Originally the team designed and implemented a highly functional data and voice network into the Dalby Forest site.  Later they designed a network, which has enabled broadband internet access to a rural area without disrupting the forest and wildlife nearby.  I was extremely impressed by the technical knowledge and drive of the c>ways team.  I do not believe that the project would have been completed as effectively if we had not had the support of the c>ways staff.”

Solution Summary

Since the implementation of the original upgrade to the Dalby Forest visitors centre, c>ways have worked with the Forestry Commission to design a network for a second site that has been developed.

The Forestry Commission are now able to let offices, which have a sophisticated data and voice network infrastructure along with a robust broadband network. This development has significantly improved the rural community, enabling global communication without any disruption to the environment.

The Method:
c>ways brought all the local providers of wireless, mobile phone and digital radiotogether, through a long range connection and enabled them to drop their services into the relevant parts of the forest.  

The Solution:
c>ways ltd provided the infrastructure that enable the participants, their teams  members and the 10000 visitors to access the internet during the event in a remote rural area

we love the challenge, we specialise on taking work that is extraordinary for which we provide innovative IT solutions the c>ways’ way?

Wireless Internet Connection ‘up in the woods’

Dalby Forest in North Yorkshire held the opening round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup on April 2010. This is a renowned international event and it was a great honour for Britain to have been appointed to host it. British cyclists are becoming more and more internationally acknowledged mainly after the 2008 Beijing Olympics where the GB Cycling Team brought home 34 medals boosting the nation’s interest in cycling and focusing its hopes on London 2012.

c>ways ltd was given the challenge of providing wireless internet access for the first ever opening round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup held in Britain. It took place in Dalby Forest (North Yorkshire), one of the largest areas of forest in the country.

c>ways ltd provided the infrastructure that enabled all the participants, their team members and the 10,000 visitors to be able to access the internet during the event. The challenge was massive as the event village alone covered 40000 square meters in a remote rural area where previous attempts to provide internet access have proven extremely difficult.

c>ways ltd’s infrastructure provided:

•  Digital Radio for all the emergency services present at the event 
•  A Mobile Phone booster station 
•  Free network phone calls 
•  3 forms of internet: ­ An ultra reliable one for the organizers, a high speed internet for the 12 international television cameras and 50 media desks present at the event and internet access for the general public

 c>ways ltd’s IT services supported & allowed the organizers to set up:

•  A media centre, an accreditation office and an event organization office
•  Ticket master controlled entry/exit points
•  Cash ITM machines and Chip and Pin machines

‘On behalf of the British Cycling Board and Senior Management Team I would like to sincerely thank you and your team for your dedicated contribution and hard work before, during and after the recent UCI Mountain Bike Cross Country World Cup in Dalby Forest, Yorkshire [.......] It would not have been possible to achieve this level of successful event delivery and the resulting legacy without your help so my thanks go out to you for playing your part in the event organisation team.’ Ian Drake – Chief Executive of British Cycling Association

Nick Jackson (Managing Director of c>ways ltd) commented on the event: ‘it was massive, it was a challenge and we loved it. We also learnt a lot from it, we learnt that next time we will be able to do even more like installing wireless TV cameras around the forest that will provide live video feed, put in place measures to accurately count the number of people attending, etc…… ‘c>ways is very proud to have been awarded this very prestigious project. We love the challenge, we specialise on taking work that is extraordinary for which we provide innovative IT solutions the c>ways’ way.

The Brief:
Deal with space, power and cooling issues and simplify the management of the College’s IT infrastructure.

The Method:
c>ways implemented a VMware infrastructure 3 which delivers 12:1 server consolidation and high availability of key applications.

The Solution:
VMware infrastructure 3 has provided the College with a flexible and robust infrastructure that is centrally managed and efficient.

virtualisation has helped us drastically “… the c>ways way
Jody Popplewell, Senior Network Administrator, Hull College

Hull College is one of the largest colleges in the North of England with around 1500 members of staff and 35000 student registrations each year.

With a rapidly expanding portfolio of over 250 applications Hull College was beginning to face serious problems caused by its growing server estate. Space, power and cooling issues were becoming major environmental and financial concerns and management of the overall infrastructure was becoming particularly difficult. Further expansion of the College’s IT resources was not possible, so multiple applications were being run in the same server environment. This made maintenance work a massive headache for the IT team and greatly increased the effects of any server downtime.

After an onsite assessment c>ways suggested virtualisation as the most suitable solution for the College’s issues. “The expansion of our data centre was affecting our ability to deliver services promptly and efficiently and we were becoming concerned about our power and cooling overheads. Virtualisation has helped us drastically reduce our power and cooling requirements while making our overall infrastructure far more efficient” explained the Senior Network Administrator for Hull College Jody Popplewell.

By moving to VMware virtual infrastructure, Hull College achieved a server  consolidation  ratio  of  12:1.  By decreasing its server footprint to this extent the College made significant savings on power and cooling costs and consolidated its main data centre into one room. Virtualisation also helped the IT department to be far more flexible and responsive in the way it deploys and manages services and the College has now a ‘virtual first’ approach to delivering new applications.

“VMware infrastructure 3 has proven to be the answer to our problems. Being able to treat our virtual infrastructure as a centrally managed pool of resources has allowed us to be more efficient, flexible and streamlines in the way we deliver services to staff and students” said Jody.

Using advance features of the VMware Infrastructure 3 such as VMware HA and VMotion the College has also built an effective and simple platform for business continuity and disaster recovery. The College is now running 99% of its applications on VMware. Using VMware HA and VMware Motion is able to ensure the availability of applications and eradicate downtime caused by maintenance work.    Using    a    virtual    backup appliance it takes live backups of running servers and replicates these to a secondary site for DR purposes. Hull College has also started to look at virtualizing its desktops environment.

Results:

• Consolidated data centre into one room
• Reduced downtime
• Server consolidation ratio 12:1
• Increased CPU utilisation rates
• Power and cooling consumption reduced by 50%
• Reduced CO2 emissions by 1500 tonnes per year
• Reduced new server deployment time to 30 minutes

Industry: 
Education

The History: 
It all started when Bradford Grammar School commissioned c>ways with a network  update in 2004. They have been working together improving IT services for students and staff ever since .

The Projects:
So far c>ways has been involved in the following projects at Bradford Grammar School:

• Networks
• CCTV
• VM Ware ,Storage & Servers
• Voice & Data Systems
• SAN Consolidation
• Disaster Recovery
• Integrated cabling systems

established, long term partnerships” … the c>ways’ way 

Bradford Grammar School is an independent co-educational day school with the aim to be one of the leading schools of its kind in the country. They offer their pupils a variety of challenging opportunities for learning, development and growth.

Network Upgrade
c>ways were commissioned by Bradford Grammar School to design, project manage and implement the upgrade of the IT network. The project was to migrate the network infrastructure from a legacy 100meg infrastructure to a state of the art Gigabit Ethernet backbone. Performance, reliability, simplicity and ease of use are clearly important to staff and students alike. And when the school was looking to upgrade, these considerations were top of its list.

The school wanted the upgrade for several reasons. Its central network infrastructure was reaching the end of its migration path and it was also expensive to maintain. Moreover, it could not easily handle the demands of the latest IP applications. This, in particular, was important to the school as it wanted a platform for the future: one that could cater for future growth and innovative new services. So, to satisfy all of these requirements, the School chose a Nortel solution from c>ways.

CCTV
c>ways installed 15 cctv cameras in different positions around the school campus. Each camera was specially selected to make sure that it provided the maximum coverage for each area selected for monitoring. c>ways proposed the Genetec  Omnicast IP Platform for the Bradford Grammar School CCTV infrastructure. This is a server based IP Platform giving full management and flexibility. The IP encoders based at the camera position encode the Video image which is transmitted via the fibre optic cabling to the server platform. The Omnicast design provides the flexibility to grow the system one camera at a time, from one to thousands of cameras.This solution allows the upgrade or replacement of components without replacing the entire system. 

The Omnicast platform delivered by c-ways takes advantage of SAN technology configured in a fully redundant and failsafe design, with no single point of failure built into the system.Access to the images is managed by the school’s CCTV administrators ensuring security and Data Protection rights are maintained.

VMWare, Storage & Servers
c>ways were invited by Bradford Grammar School to investigate the possibilities of reducing the number of physical file server computers through the use of modern server virtualization techniques. The objective was to demonstrate the potential benefits of adopting server virtualization as a method of reducing the number of physical servers to increase data storage capability and decrease maintenance and support costs.

As a result of this exercise c>ways delivered an Enterprise Class virtualization and replicated storage solution utilising VMware Infrastructure virtualization software, Dell servers and a Dot Hill storage solution. Consolidating all servers on to one platform enables the resources to be managed and allocated efficiently and provides excellent availability and fail-safe mechanisms. In order to move all of the schools current data saved on various servers to the new SAN, c>ways used a mirroring system to migrate the data seamlessly without interruption.

SAN Consolidation
In August 2010, Bradford Grammar School decided to consolidate its disk systems which consisted of a mixed direct attached and a 6 SAN array infrastructure.  The existing infrastructure had exhausted all rack space taking up collectively an entire 42U data rack distributed between two data centre locations at the School Campus in Keighley Road, Bradford. By using the FalconStor NSS platform, c-ways consolidated all of the school’s 6 SAN disk array systems into a pair of high performance fibre attached SAS arrays supplied by DotHill Technologies. This was all done in two working days and without causing disruption to the clients using the servers or their applications.

The Brief:
Carry out an investigation into the possibilities of significantly reducing the number of physical server at rpmi through the use of modern server virtualisation techniques and support for disaster recovery.

The Method:
c>ways delivered an Enterprise Class virtualisation solution utilising VMware vSphere, Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) storage and Avaya Enterprise Networks.

The Solution:
The previous 60+ physical servers, of which 40 were considered business critical, were consolidated down to 6 physical servers plus the addition of a shared storage or SAN infrastructure. There were immediate savings in power costs and carbon footprint, both directly and indirectly through reduced air conditioning requirements.

simple, effective & environmentally friendly solutions… the c>ways’ way

rpmi is an award-winning pensions administrator which administers pensions for over 200 organizations and supports over 500,000 members.

 c>ways were invited by rpmi to carry out an investigation into the possibilities of significantly reducing the number of physical file servers at rpmi, through the use of modern virtualisation techniques. The objective was to demonstrate the potential benefits of adopting server  and storage virtualisation as a method of delivering a real-world point in time business continuity solution which allows IT service departments to deliver on a 99.999% system availability statistic and the utmost in data protection.

As a result of this exercise c>ways delivered an Enterprise Class virtualisation and replicated storage solution utilising VMware Infrastructure virtualisation software, Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) storage and Avaya Enterprise Networks. The platform formed the basis of the Pension Company’s Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plan. Two locations within rpmi’s Stooperdale Offices mirrored the servers and data for reliable delivery of ICT service. A third remote site hosts a replicated Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity platform which is made up of identical products and made ready to failover at the request of the IT Department. The entire solution is managed by a Central Service.

The solution was designed to provide a real world solution.

c>ways determined that the current 60+ physical servers, of which 40 were considered business critical, could be consolidated down to 6 physical servers plus the addition of a shared storage – SAN infrastructure. There were immediate savings in power costs and carbon footprint, both directly and indirectly through reduced air conditioning requirements.

rpmi had adopted a 4 year capital replacement policy. With the new virtual environment, the need to purchase new server hardware in the future was also much reduced, opening the possibility that, once the initial investment was made, any server capital replacement program or maintenance budget may be reduced by as much as 60% of its current and expected capital replacement cost.

In addition to those savings, virtualising the servers had a huge advantage: the virtual servers running on the 6 physical servers are no more than large files that can be copied to other physical servers running the virtualisation, making backup, disaster resilience and business continuity much less complex and easy to test.

The solution was designed to provide a Virtual Environment that was configured within one central Data Centre and split into three deployable configurations. The primary site pair was located within the Stooperdale offices. The remote site equipment was re-located upon agreement in a secure remote site location. In this way should the main data centre in Darlington suffer a catastrophic disaster, with the virtual server environment, it is possible to have the servers pop back up at another location within a couple of minutes, and in some cases, without disruption to network users.

The protection of rpmi data using tape backup media had grown to a point where the time window for backup and verification was very difficult to achieve. Server creep resulted in a tape backup library of more than 800 tapes and 30 tape changes per day. Server virtualisation SAN infrastructure and an Enterprise scale Tape Library platform allowed rpmi to both gain control of the backup and save operational time and tape costs in addition to further enhancing data integrity.

The implementation of a virtual server environment provided rpmi with a platform that can adapt to the needs of the business rapidly and with greater financial control.

As part of the project deployment, key rpmi personnel were trained to a level which allowed them to ascertain a formal qualificatio in:

• Hitachi Systems Engineer’s
• VMware Professional’s
• Brocade Switch Fabric Professional’s
• Symantec Backup Exec Administrator’s

The Brief:
Bishop Burton College needed a data storage architecture able to economically scale to support its data management requirements while providing the flexibility needed to allocate storage according to different user
needs.

The Method:
To invest, re-design and centralise management of the College’s data storage network. The Hitachi Simple SAN provided a scalable and robust solution, supporting future growth and making it possible for Bishop Burton College to reduce IT costs and efficiently allocate storage resources.

The Solution:
Hitachi’s Simple SAN platform made it possible to do just that. It increased Bishop Burton College’s storage capacity from 60 to 4,000 gigabytes, enabling storage capacity to be centrally managed and lowering total cost of ownership.

an economical and reliable solution to address current & future needs … the c>ways’ way

Bishop Burton College is one of Britain’s leading countryside education institutes. It opened a new campus as part of the college’s £23 million investment in education and sporting facilities.

Campus expansion and the increasing generation of electronic data led Bishop Burton College, an education institute in the North of England, to invest, re-design and centralise management of its data storage network. The Hitachi Simple SAN provided a scalable and robust solution, supporting future growth and making it possible for the College to reduce IT costs and efficiently allocate storage resources.

Increased data storage demands from 3,500 teachers and students, combined with the ambitious expansion plans meant that simply adding servers to boost storage capacity was no longer economically viable.

Bishop Burton College needed a data storage architecture able to support its data management requirements while providing the flexibility needed to allocate storage according to different user needs. Hitachi’s Simple SAN platform made it possible. It increased the College’s storage capacity from 60 to 4,000 gigabytes, enabling storage capacity to be centrally managed and lowering total cost of ownership.

Capacity not cost
The existing storage environment consisted of one data centre with servers added to meet capacity demands. It did not provide flexibility to meet individual department needs or enable the college to centrally manage a rapidly increasing data burden.

The college needed a new storage solution to support future growth and enable it to structure both staff and student data in a way that was cost-efficient and easy to access. Reliability was also central as information saved on the system is often critical to students and teachers.

Integration not disruption
Besides tackling increasing data, the College wanted to achieve a centralised environment. This will allow managing its storage capacity enabling it to be allocated to meet varying demands across departments. Alongside this, any changes to the new system needed to take place with as little disruption as possible to students and staff.

These goals were achieved in a short time using the Hitachi Simple SAN, which makes the installation of a Storage Area Network as easy as six computer mouse clicks. It provides high-speed data storage in one place, reducing the amount of administration needed to oversee individual servers. By consolidating all servers on to one platform enables the resources to be managed and allocated efficiently and provides excellent availability and fail-safe mechanisms.

C>Ways worked closely with Bishop Burton College to deploy the Hitachi Simple SAN. C>Ways and Hitachi have worked together on a number of projects across the UK and were confident that they would be able to design, install and support a storage solution that would meet the College’s current and future demands.

The college needed a new storage solution to support future growth and enable it to structure both staff and student data in a way that was cost-efficient and easy to access. Reliability was also central as information saved on the system is often critical to students and teachers.

Simplified, consolidated information
In order to move all of Bishop Burton College’s current data saved on various servers to the new SAN, C>Ways used a mirroring system based on Novell to migrate the data seamlessly without interruption. College systems that needed to be migrated to the SAN platform included Lotus Notes and the main administrative system, which staff used every day.

With Hitachi’s intuitive SAN technology and C>Ways expert project management, the first server was operational on the new network within a day.

Consolidation of the existing storage media and functions (disks, tapes, and disaster recovery) has led to significant simplification of storage management and provisioning. It also allows new configurations to be implemented more efficiently.

Alan Anderson, IT manager of Bishop Burton College, commented: “Our data was increasing by 10% each year approximately and we need an economical and reliable solution to address current and future needs. C>Ways seamlessly implemented The Hitachi Simple SAN platform, which has improved our ability to manage storage capacity to meet individual user needs. All future applications will be put onto the SAN and it allows us to address an ever increasing data burden while reducing total cost of ownership.”

The Brief:
To widen participation in learning and to help and encourage people of all ages and abilities to achieve their full potential.

The Method:
Implementation a new network with a gigabyte Ethernet trunk and Passport 8600 switches at the core of the network.

The Solution:
Robust, resilient, high-performance telecommunications network.

flawless project management and strategic planning… the c>ways’ way

Leeds Metropolitan University was founded in 1992 and has three campuses, over 40,000 students and 3000 members of staff.

Acknowledged as setting new world class standards for city centre regeneration, the development is office-led, but mixed use, providing high quality commercial, civic, residential, hotel, leisure and retail space in a carefully planned and managed environment.

C>Ways were engaged to replace the existing telecommunications network within the campus located in the city centre.

The University required a high performance, secure and resilient data network, which would replace the current ATM core infrastructure along with edge and routing equipment.

Within the new system the University needed an innovative network that would enable voice and video traffic, in addition to traditional data transfer. Good traffic management along with optional traffic management tools, were also required.

Furthermore, the University wanted the ability to install additional security, interface and management features at a later date.

C>Ways, in partnership with AVAYA Networks, implemented a new network with a gigabyte Ethernet trunk and Passport 8600 switches at the core of the network. Voice-over-IP (VoIP) enables the network to support voice, video and data traffic at a reduced total cost of ownership.

The project was implemented with a ‘Zero downtime’ policy, to ensure that University operations were not hindered.

C>Ways worked alongside Leeds Metropolitan University, in order to utilise current resources to ensure increased productivity. This not only reduced costs, but enabled University staff to use their current skills, and gain additional knowledge from our team of specialists.

Through flawless project management and strategic planning, C>Ways were able to implement a robust, resilient, high-performance telecommunications network for the University.

Due to the use of sophisticated technologies a cost effective digital telecommunications network was successfully implemented. The design of the new network will allow the University to easily upgrade the system in the future.

C>Ways have been able to provide the University with exceptional support via our dedicated Help Desk and team of specialists.

Since the implementation of the new network at the Civic Centre campus, C>Ways have begun a completely new network to upgrade at the University’s Beckett Park campus.

The Brief:
To upgrade Manchester City Council CCTV network from analogue to IP based surveillance.

The Method:
C>Ways integrated a federated Omnicast 4.1 IP CCTV system from Genetec.

The Solution:
The new system allowed unicast and multicast video to be used simultaneously and routed through a new high performance data network back to one central monitoring station, replacing 5 island stations.

Integration…the c>ways’ way

‘Unlike an analogue installation, the new systems can deploy cameras and monitoring stations within hours, our partners could not be happier with the new system and its flexibility, response and many benefits’ David Walsh, Technical Installations Manager from the City of Manchester’s Command and Control Centre

The City of Manchester has chosen equipment from Genetec to upgrade its CCTV network from analogue to IP based surveillance in line with their network migration plans.

Working with the specialist integrator C>Ways, the city council selected a federated Omnicast 4.1 IP CCTV system from Genetec. Many of the City’s strategic IP and analogue cameras are now managed by the Omnicast system which was integrated into the IT Network by C>Ways.

The new system allows unicast and multicast functions to be used simultaneously helping to manage the bandwidth. ‘Where before we could only use either unicast or multicast functions, the federated Omnicast solution provide failsafe viewing and recording of any camera managed by our team of officers. The introduction of H.264 video streaming working in failsafe mode simultaneously protects our systems while offering better management of bandwidth’ said David Walsh, Technical Installations Manager from the City of Manchester’s Command and Control Centre.

The Control Centre had five locations throughout the city, all of which manage video with its older, fixed analogue systems. With the introduction of a high speed municipal data network enhanced by services delivered by radio network specialist Metronet, a new IP CCTV solution was designed and delivered by c-ways (who acted as project manager and chief technical officer to the Control Centre Manager) .

The solution is designed to be future proof, adopting H.264 protocols as soon as they became available, together with new end user tools like PC Mouse driven video control or USB high speed Joystick technology for accurate management and monitoring.

The solution is robust and capable of expanding to massive camera numbers. The Omnicast platform delivered by c-ways takes advantage of SAN technology configured in a fully redundant and failsafe design, with no single point of failure built into the system.

Using Federation techniques, the Control Centre can offer controlled access to parts of the CCTV system to external agencies both highly securely and flexibly. One month into the systems implementation and the authority had already migrated 30 cameras and offered access to them to the Greater Manchester Police with 20 more cameras from the city’s largest municipal parks within a few weeks after.

The upgrade allowed Manchester City Council to work with existing infrastructure and hardware providers ensuring efficient use of public funds, which David Walsh said was ‘very important when spending public money’.

David Walsh added: ‘unlike the analogue installation, the systems were up and running within hours and our partner could not be happier with the new system and its many benefits’
C>Ways has been providing CCTV System Support and Maintenance to the Manchester City Council new IP based surveillance system since then.

About Genetec
Genetec is a pioneer in the physical security and public safety industry and a global provider of world-class IP video surveillance, access control and license plate recognition (LPR) solutions to markets such as transports, education, retail, gaming & government. With sales offices and partnerships around the world, Genetec has established itself as the leader in innovative networked solutions by applying a high level of flexibility and forward-thinking principles into the development of its core technology and business solutions. Genetec’s corporate culture is an extension of these very same principles, encouraging a dynamic and innovative workforce that is dedicated to the development of cutting-edge solutions and to exceptional customer care.
For more information, visit www.genetec.com.

The Brief:
To upgrade and expand Hertfordshire Constabulary’s video surveillance infrastructure and systems to ensure public safety and security.

The Method:
The systems had to be upgraded to Genetec- Omnicast, extra cameras had to be set up and new hardware had to be installed to accommodate the expansion. All the new systems were then connected to Omnicast using a Wide Area Network.

The Solution:
Working with C>Ways Ltd, Hertfordshire Constabulary is using Omnicast tocurrently manage over 70 analogue cameras from different manufacturers throughout the county of Hertfordshire, ten council districts and some major motorway routes throughout the county of Hertfordshire.

The close working relationship between C>Ways and Hertfordshire Constabulary enabled a successful outcome to a challenging project….the c>ways’ way

Hertfordshire Constabulary has selected Genetec’s Omnicast IP video surveillance for a county-wide video system expansion and upgrade.

Genetec is a pioneer in the physical security industry and a provider of world-class IP security solutions. Upon completion of the expansion which is currently underway, the new Omnicast system will manage a total of over 100 cameras, helping officers police 632 square miles and protect over a million residents.

“The user-friendliness of the system was key,” says Grant Harknett, Network Analyst at Hertfordshire Constabulary. “It is a very intuitive which allowed us to move away from a system that was unusable, with relative ease. The Omnicast system has met all our expectations.”

Working with c>ways Limited, a UK-based IT Integrator, Hertfordshire Constabulary is using Omnicast to currently manage over 50 existing analogue cameras in their own estate as well as feeds from 10 council districts and some major motorway routes throughout the county of Hertfordshire. It is thanks to Omnicast’s open architecture that Hertfordshire Constabulary was able to preserve their existing hardware investments, using Axis encoders amongst others to convert analogue feeds to IP.

An additional 40 IP Axis cameras have been added to Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Enquiry Offices to safeguard staff, visitors and the premises. The additional expansion will be fully integrated into the police headquarters’ system where all cameras are currently being monitored around the clock. Hertfordshire Constabulary also have the ability to view a helicopter-mounted camera through Omnicast to literally get a bird’s eye view of happenings in the county.

C>Ways are a Genetec Certified Elite partner. Nick Jackson, MD of C>Ways highlighted the challenging aspect of integrating cameras from multiple locations across the county into the Omnicast solution. ‘The close working relationship between C>Ways and Hertfordshire Constabulary enabled a successful outcome to a challenging project’.

Some additional Omnicast features that were particularly important to Hertfordshire Constabulary included Redundant and Failover Archiving which ensures access to live or archived data at all times. This is particularly important for after-the-fact investigations, when high-priority camera recordings must be reviewed. In similar respects, Omnicast’s Archive Player allows surveillance officers to quickly retrieve and playback stored video in case suspicion is raised by an activity or incident caught on camera.

“Hertfordshire Constabulary is joining the ranks of Manchester City Council, opting for a similar upgrade to Omnicast,” says Cavan Kendall, UK Sales Manager at Genetec. “They have pro-actively sought out an advanced IP video surveillance technology to ensure public safety and security, and we are happy to have been able to help them fulfil all their security objectives.”

C>Ways had already installed Omnicast for Manchester City Council back in 2006, when they were looking for a next generation CCTV solution. 25 cameras were installed in Manchester City Centre, the number increased to 100 when the decision was made to include the park areas within Greater Manchester.

About Genetec
Genetec is a pioneer in the physical security and public safety industry and a global provider of world-class IP video surveillance, access control and license plate recognition (LPR) solutions to markets such as transports, education, retail, gaming & government. With sales offices and partnerships around the world, Genetec has established itself as the leader in innovative networked solutions by applying a high level of flexibility and forward-thinking principles into the development of its core technology and business solutions. Genetec’s corporate culture is an extension of these very same principles, encouraging a dynamic and innovative workforce that is dedicated to the development of cutting-edge solutions and to exceptional customer care.
For more information, visit www.genetec.com.

The Brief:
To deploy Fibre, Wireless and CCTV within Spinningfields, Manchester’s dynamic new business district.

The Method:
After becoming apparent that the amount of equipment to be installed into the public realm was becoming complex and detrimental to the surrounding development. A decision was made to implement a Metropolitan Standard design based on resilient ring fibre, where both cameras and wireless co-exist, taking advantage of a reduced deployment of equipment into the public realm while maximising on the current duct and fibre infrastructure.

The Solution:
c>ways designed and implemented a resilient fibre ring around the Spinningfields’ development which enabled a public realm wireless network to be configured. The wireless network is secure, high quality and resilient and carries images from the CCTV cameras back to a central room for monitoring and recording. The CCTV system is based on the Genetic Omnicast IP Platform which provides exceptional picture quality and is flexible to enable the expansion of the system one camera at a time into many thousand cameras.

flawless project management… the c>ways’ way

Spinningfields is Europe’s new premium financial and professional services destination.

 Acknowledged as setting new world class standards for city centre regeneration, the development is office-led, but mixed use, providing high quality commercial, civic, residential, hotel, leisure and retail space in a carefully planned and managed environment.

C>Ways was commissioned the task to design and project manage the implementation of the new fibre cable, cctv and wireless infrastructure.

IP CCTV
C>Ways installed 15 cctv cameras in different positions around the Spinningfields complex. Each camera was specially selected to make sure that it blended with its environment, had the right design and colour and was not intrusive.

C>Ways proposed the Genetec Omnicast IP Platform for the Spinningfields CCTV infrastructure. This is a server based IP Platform giving full management and flexibility. The IP encoders based at the camera position encode the Video image which is transmitted via the fibre optic cabling and Wireless infrastructure to the server platform.

Omnicast design provides the flexibility to grow your system one camera at a time, from one to thousands of cameras.

Access to the images is managed by the Genetec platform administrators ensuring security and Data Protection rights are maintained.

Wireless
Spinningfileds’ original planned infrastructure was to be built around a Radio Mesh network. C>Ways suggested a new wireless design based on utilising the Fibre Network reducing the total number of access points in the Public Realm and providing an easy to manage platform. The antennas and access points chosen by C>Ways were modern looking and could be painted to blend with the environment and be non intrusive.

Ducting & Fibre Installation
Spinningfields previously deployed a cable duct system with a star configuration with breakout points and inspection chambers in key locations. It didn’t provide a complete ring around the site.

C>Ways recommended a Fibre Ring Topology to ensure a fault tolerant fibre infrastructure with a Nortel Network Switch system connected to the cable to provide the IP Ethernet Connectivity. With this design, should a fibre optic link be damaged the switches will detect the loss of signal and re route it in the opposite direction. It will also allow the server to be placed anywhere within the ring.

A ‘blown fibre’ tubing system was also installed. It enables fibres to be blown through the existing tubing providing high levels of expansion capability.

This together with the ring design makes this structure future proof. Should future services be required they can be injected into the development and without relying on a single building for access.